Saratoga Spring Water Co. product to be served at inauguration

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer announced Friday afternoon that Saratoga Bottled Water will be the official water served at the inaugural presidential election in 2013. He was toured by COE and President Adam Madkour, Jr. Photo Erica Miller 8/3/12 news_Schumer4_Sat

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer announced Friday afternoon that Saratoga Bottled Water will be the official water served at the inaugural presidential election in 2013. Photo Erica Miller 8/3/12 news_Schumer1_Sat

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Sen. Charles Schumer on Friday placed what could be the most important order in the 140-year history of the Saratoga Spring Water Co.

New York's senior senator announced the company's iconic blue-bottled sparkling water will be served throughout Capitol Hill during next year's presidential inauguration ceremonies, on Jan. 21.

The beverage will be available during the swearing-in ceremonies and the inaugural luncheon, which has a guest list that includes the president, vice president, cabinet members and Congressional leaders.

Some 232 dignitaries will fill the Capitol's Statuary Hall for the luncheon, said Schumer, chairman of the 2013 Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. The bipartisan committee is tasked with choosing food, beverage and entertainment options for the ceremonies, regardless of who is sworn in.

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Schumer made the announcement after touring the company's Geyser Road bottling plant, saying it is the first time the bottled beverage will make an appearance at a presidential inauguration. The company was founded in 1872, when Ulysses S. Grant was president, and has seen

26 presidential regime changes.

Saratoga Spring Water Co. President and CEO Adam Madkour, who was only notified of the distinction Wednesday, called the news one of the most historic moments in company history.

"We're very hopeful that the exposure will give us a significant bump in sales," Madkour said.

The company's water is collected from a spring on-site and pumped through an underground line into the bottling plant. From there, it goes through a treatment process and the water is carbonated before the finished product is pumped into the company's signature blue bottles, with "Saratoga" in script across the front.

"There's an added benefit," Schumer said. "Not only does it benefit the spring water itself or the company, but it helps Saratoga County. It helps the racetrack. It helps anything with the name "Saratoga."

The plant can produce "hundreds of thousands of bottles a day," Madkour said, though actual production is based on demand.

The company has 22 employees, he added, plus a nationwide network of distributors.

Madkour said a good percentage of the company's sales are done in New York, while most of its business is focused on the east coast. There is a desire, though, to expand to the western United States.

The water is sold in 37 states and some Carribean resorts, Madkour said, and the company began shipping to China about three years ago.